Can you tell us where you are in the game and what monsters you have been fighting? It might help us figure out what is going on.

Normally that only happens when a character was defeated in a fight right before the one you are in and you didn't get a chance to revive them before moving on. If that isn't the case when you're not in a battle check the status screens for your characters to find out if they have inflicted with some type of status altering spell or something. Also check the description of the items and accessories equipped by your party members or any of the golems you have used. I remember there being some funky items in the game but I don't recall anything doing what is described above but then again it been 2 years since I've played the game.

It sounds like you're out of those Vitality Points. These points are used up by battles. The longer the battle lasts, the more vitality points you use. Some characters start with more than others. Find yourself a heal station and that will replenish those precious points. I had this same problem. It does talk about what these points are, and that it is bad if you lose them during the beginning of the game, but if you are like me, I kinda clicked right through them wihtout reading much. Check out the wikipedia article on the game, it talks about those vitality points under the Statistics and Points section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchanted_Arms